At the begin of the seventies, business was going very well at Ford of Europe. The commercial vehicle program was very attractive and varied from the succesfull Transit to the heavier A- and D- Series. However, in the heavy end segment of the market Ford was not yet present in Europe. Although the heaviest D-series tractor units were plated for GCW up to 29,5 tons, Ford wanted also Trucks up to 42 tons. In Ford's UK development centre in Dunton, there were a lot of activities going on. The engineers received early 1971 the task to develop a new heavy truck for GCW's up tot 42 tons.

There were a few possible ways to achieve this. The first most feasable idea was to develop a heavier D-series version. Another option was to adapt the American W-Series to European specifications. None of these plans met the requirements of the design letter. Finally the senior management of Ford Europe decided that a complete new vehicle had to be developed: the Elba project beter known as the H-series was born. The design letter required premium quality and high reliability. The first prototypes came on the road in 1973 and they made the majority of their test kilometres on the transport of parts between the major European Ford assembly factories. Opposite to the smaller D-series, Ford had nearly no own components available for the heavy H-series. Only the 7 tons front axle with oil lubricated hubs of the heaviest D-Series and the side members of the American L-series as built in Louisville could be used. Ford designed the driveline to the prooven American concept: Cummins engine, Spicer clutch, Fuller Roadranger gearbox and Rockwell rearaxle|(s). A guarantee for a long lifetime! Finding a suitable cab was more difficult. Ford had no suitable cab for intenational application availble in own house. After difficult negotiations with the Frensh Truck factory Berliet, a contract was signed between Ford and Berliet, for the delivery

of their new TR cab. Although de H-Series was developed in the UK, Ford decided to manufacture te H-Series at the plant of Ford Netherlands in Amsterdam. In this factory the production of passengercars was nearly finished and only the N-Series (a D-Series truck for the German market) and Transit were assembled in the mid seventies. To make the Amsterdam plant near the Nortsea canal suitable for the assembly of Ford's newest model, high investments in buildings and machinery were necessary. Three new buildings covering a total of 12.000 m2 were constructed and the total premises were increased by another 98.000 m2. Also a special testrack was planned. In total, Ford invested in their Amsterdam plant more then 28 biljen Euro. The plant was located in the main sales area of the H-Series. The activities in the plant were restricted to assembly. Only the assembly of the cabs was a very time consuming work. In the beginning, the cabs came as complete naked unpainted bodies from the Viseux plant of Berliet and were only protected by a thin layer of oil. Sometimes they were stored in the open for a few days, so no wonder that today one of the main problem is the bad condition of the cab. In the Amsterdam plant the cabs were de-greased, cleaned, grounded in an electroforese coat, sprayed and completed with the interiour. During the factory summer holiday in July 1975 a cab welding mould was installed in the factory, and from August 1975 the cabbody was also manufactured in the Amsterdam plant. The chassis was not welded. The US imported side members of the Louisville series were cutted to the desired length, holes were drilled and the cross members were fitted with bolts. The assembly of the new truck took place on a conveyer of 72 meters. Initially a production of 7000 units a year was planned. The H-Series was officially revealed as "Transcontinental"on April 30 th 1975 in Amsterdam. The first trucks were destinated to UK and German operators. From September 11 th 1975, the Ford Transcontinental Show toured for 8 weeks through Holland, visiting the 9 Dutch Ford heavy truck dealers. From the extensive Dutch Ford dealer network, Ford appointed only a limited number of commercial vehicle specialists as Ford Transcontinental dealer. From these 9 dealers, in first instance three became the so called "key-dealers" title who were allowed to work on the Cummins engines. As stated before, Ford used in the Transcontinental two different Cummins engines with 4 Horse power ratings:
 

Super 252 245 DIN-pk/2100 rpm

NTC 335 E T 273 DIN-pk/1950 rpm

NTC 355 E TA 308 DIN-pk/1950 rpm

NTC 335 TA 340 DIN-pk/2100 rpm

 In the Netherlands the 245 hp-version with 15.18 liter capacity was not in the program. The NTC Cummins 14-liter diesel engines had as a main feature 4 valves per cylinder, 3 seperate cylinderheads for each two cylinders and the PT-high pressure-injection system with injectors and bored high pressure fuellines inside the engineblock. The ventilator was equiped with a viscues cluth ensuring it only to engage when necessary. The twin plated clutch was supplied by Dana Spicer which was connected to a Fuller Roadranger gearbox with 9 (RT9505) and optional 13 gears (RTO9513). The 4x2-transcontinetals had a 11,5-tons Rockwell R180 rearaxle with single reduction which could be recognized by it giant crownwheel with a diameter of almost 50 cm. The differential was lockable. To meet Belgium and Frensh regulations Ford mounted also a 13-tons U180 rearaxle. The 6x4-versions had a 18-tons Rockwell SHD/SHR tandem with lockable third differential. Although parabola springs were already mounted by some competitors, Ford decided to use the classic half-eleptic leaf springs which were manufactured by Weweler in the Netherlands. The frontaxle had 7 leafs of 172,5 cm length. The 4x2's truck versions had 8 leafs of 190 cm on the rearaxle. Artics had the same springs but shortened to 166 cm. Both the induvidual axles of the tandem had separate leaf suspenson, so a real on-road bogie. The Transcontinentals were equiped with schokabsorbers and stabilasors and both the front- and the rearaxle. An exceptional construction was choosen for the steering gear, this was a Burman-steering system with double power assistance. Besides the steering gear, the other side of the front axle had a separate hydraulic steer cyliner. The parking brake was working on both the front- and rearaxles.

By the beginning of 1976 the program was extended with a 6x2-execution. Ford used a 4x2 chassis with a wheelbase of 4267 mm and added a an airsuspended liftable Sauer tagaxle. Ford designed the Transcontinental for minimal maintenance. Because of the large oilsump content and big filters, the oilchange interval was set to 20.000 km. The electrical system had an isolated mass return which was not very conventional at that time. Four batteries of 6V took care of the 24V-system, but the "sealed-beam" headlamps were working on 12V. The Ford engineers decided to use automatic fuses, which could be re-engaged after a short circuit situation. Berliet mounted the cab on their TR 280 series directly on the chassis, but this was not satisfactory for the Ford engineers as it would allow to much vibrations going into the cab. So they choose to use a 4 point coiled suspension for the cab. Also a big engine tunnel like the TR 280 was out of the question, although the Cummins engine was higher then Berliets V-8. The cab on the Transcontinental was relatively high on the chassis making the total truck nearly 3.20 meters high. A comparable Volvo F88 was more then 20 cm less in height. There was not space left for a Jacobs-brake on the Cummins-engine, so the Transcontinental was forced to live with a

 

normal exhaust brake. In the first year the Ford Transcontinental was a succes. After only 1 year of production, in Mai 1976 the 1.000ste example left the assembly line and on the 8 th of December the 2500 the Transcontinental was produced. The interest of hauliers to buy the Transcontinental went down, despite the good reputation of the Transcontinental. The market situation became more and more difficult. The Ford salesman needed good arguments to convince customers. There were just to much attractive alternatives like the Bedford TM, Berliet TR 280, DAF F2800, Leyland Marathon, MAN 19.320 FT, Mercedes- benz 1932, Scania LB 141 and Volvo F12. The Transcontinental had one big handicap, the truck had a too high kerbweight. A standard 4x2 artic with 3.50 m wheelbase weighted 6860 kg. A comparable DAF FT 2800 weighted 350 kg less. In Belgium and France, were the 19 ton GVW was allowed, these extra kilo's were not a big problem. But in other countries the situation was more complicated! On top of this the Transcontinental had a fuel consumption of 40-42L/100 km which was very high for a 38-tons combination compared to the competition. The marketing department of Ford's truckoperation saw the need for a technical facelift and asked the engineers to look with a critical view the Transcontinental and to come with proposals to enhance the truck. The result was a lighter and more fuel economic Transcontinental, the Mark II, which was presented by the end of 1978 on the Paris Salon de l'Automobile. De Mk II-versions recognisable by the black painted undergrille were equiped with the new Cummins E-serie Big Cam 14-liter engines in the following versions:

NTE 290(255) 244 DIN-hp/1900 tpm

NTE 290(335) 274 DIN-hp/1900 tpm

NTE 350(335) 320 DIN-hp/1900 tpm

NTE 370(335) 352 DIN-hp/2100 tpm

The 244 hppk uitvoering was not availble in the Netherlands. The Big Cam's had a bigger camshaft, different injectors, a modified turbo and a new waterpump. Already at 1300 rpm the maximum torque was available. The rest of the driveline remained unchanged. Only the R180 rearaxle on the 16-tons 4x2 versions was replaced by a the lighter R170. Also the braking system was improved. Not only the braking pedal was new, but also the airpressure was increased with 17% verhoogd resulting in faster engaging of the brakes. Also the steeringsystem was modified and was no longer equiped with the additional steering cylinder. The chassis sidemembers of the 4x2-versions were lighter. On the suspension weight was saved by using less but thicker leaves, 5 instead of 8 for the frontaxle and 6 instead of 9 for the rearaxle. Because of the stiffer springs it was possible to mount thinner stabilasors. In total the Mk II was more then 200 kg lighter then the MK 1. For the 244, 274 en 320 hp engines, the oilchange interval was increased to 30.000 km.

Ford did his very best to put a succesfull long-distance truck on the market. They used the cataforese treatment to protect the cab against rust. Unfortunately the production never reached the planned 7.000 units a year. Ford Netherlands closed its production plant in December 1981, in the middle of an economic crisis. The last 504 Transcontinental's were assembled at Sandbach Engineering in the UK, side by side to the Foden trucks. In the 9 years of production only a total of 8.735 Ford Transcontinental's were made. Some operators have waited a long time before buying a different brand. Today, more then 30 years after the introduction, the Transcontinental has reached the status of a very hard to find classic truck. From a technical point a view, the Transcontinental was designed to live for ever, but the Frensh Berliet cab was not so robust. This is the reason that nearly all the Transcontinentals after ending their working life were scrapped for their reliable driveline components.